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| A farmer picks up pears blown from his trees at a farm in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, Sunday, after Typhoon Lingling struck Korea the previous day. Lingling, the fifth strongest typhoon to hit Korea since 1959, left three people dead and scores injured nationwide. / Yonhap |
Over 7,145 hectares of agricultural field damaged
By Kim Jae-heun
Typhoon Lingling brought heavy rain and strong winds to the peninsula Saturday, leaving three people dead and 23 injured before heading into North Korea.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) said Sunday that the injured were comprised of 12 members of the general public and 11 police officers and firefighters, but added that it expects the number to rise when final reports are collated.
The typhoon, which was one of the five strongest to hit the peninsula, packed wind speeds of up to 196 kilometers per hour and damaged over 3,600 facilities nationwide.
Reports of damage were initially low at 430 as of Saturday night, but these increased significantly overnight to 3,642.
Eighteen houses and 62 stores were flooded, 84 vehicles were damaged, 419 signs were blown down and 300 walls destroyed.
In addition, 108 schools, 21 cultural properties, eight fishing ports and eight roads were damaged by the wind and rain, while 2,450 trees and 125 telephone poles and streetlights were ripped from the ground.
At the height of the typhoon, 161,646 households experienced power failures, but this was restored to 99.7 percent of them by Sunday. The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) noted that Typhoon Lingling followed similar tracks of Typhoon Kompasu and Typhoon Bolaven from 2010 and 2012. But the number of homes suffering power failures was significantly lower.
Some 7,145 hectares of agricultural land saw crop damage.
Rice plants on 4,253 hectares of land were damaged and fruit in orchards comprising 1,150 hectares were blown from their trees, while 1,750 hectares of land was flooded and greenhouses on 43 hectares of land were destroyed.
On Jeju Island, 22,000 halibut in a fish farm and 500 livestock at a pig farm were killed by the typhoon.
High seas off the island and South Jeolla Province capsized 35 boats.
As the typhoon moved on into the North Korea, the government downgraded its warning level from "alert" to "caution." The MOIS also lowered its emergency level from two to one.
North Korean state media, including the Rodong Shinmun, reported that leader Kim Jong-un called an emergency party meeting Friday to direct countermeasures for Typhoon Lingling to lessen the damage.
Jeju International Airport resumed operations Sunday with a scheduled 510 flights.
The MOIS is working with local governments to assess the total damage from the typhoon while maintaining a watch on provinces still affected by high winds and rain. It will begin full disaster recovery operations over the next 10 days.
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon held a meeting at 4 p.m. to discuss ways to support damaged regions and provide emergency housing.
